You Keep Me Hangin’ On Kim Wilde

” You Keep Me Hangin’ On ” is by Kim Wilde ( Kim Smith ), the English pop singer, author, DJ and television presenter. Kim was born in the West London, England in 1960. She is the eldest child of Marty Wilde ( Reginald Smith ), the 1950s English rock ‘n’ roll singer.
It was in 1981 when Kim first entered the music scene with her debut single ” Kids in America “, the song reached number two in the United Kingdom. Between her debut in 1981 and 1996, Kim has had twenty-five singles make it into the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. A successful artist, Kim has sold over 10 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide.
The song was written by Holland–Dozier–Holland, who were a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and Brian and Eddie Holland. The Motown songwriting and production team had success with the Four Tops and the Supremes, which included ten out of the twelve Billboard Number One singles for the 60s girl group.
Initially, a Billboard Number One hit for the Supremes, the song has been covered by many artists over the years and became the first song in Billboard history to have three different versions chart in the Top Ten.
Kim Wilde’s cover version was released on the 13th of October 1986 by record label MCA Records ( Universal Music Group ) and taken as the second single from Kim’s fifth studio album, Another Step.
The album was split in two; the first half was made up of uptempo tracks with the second half of mostly ballads. Kim herself co-wrote more than half of the songs. Another Step was to be her biggest-selling album in the United States.
Production for ” You Keep Me Hangin’ On ” was by Kim’s brother Ricky Wilde. Ricky had a go at being a pop star himself, after being signed to record producer Jonathan King’s label, his UK releases wasn’t a success. He became a producer and co-writer for Kim, a role he later admitted he was more than happy to do.
Kim’s cover of the original song was re-worked by her, transforming the Motown Sound into a more uptempo pop feel. Although the song had been a massive hit for the Supremes, Kim and her brother hadn’t heard the song for several years when they decided to record their version. They didn’t know the track very well, so when they recorded the song, it was treated as a new song, they even slightly changed the original lyrics written by Holland–Dozier–Holland.
Kim said in an interview ” I really wasn’t aware that the song had gone top 10 even once. It’s a favourite of my brother Ricki, and it was his idea that I record it. ”
The accompanying music video was directed by Greg Masuak, the Canadian born music and film director. Greg has worked with a variety of artists including The Brand New Heavies, Spice Girls, Genesis, Cliff Richard, Boyzone, Roxette, Bee Gees and Kylie Minogue.
” You Keep Me Hangin’ On ” was a commercial success for Kim Wilde. In the United States, the song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. It held the top spot for one week and spent a total of twenty-one weeks on the chart there. It also reached a peak of number thirty on the Adult Contemporary Chart and six on the Dance Club Songs Chart.
In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart on the 25th of October 1986 and reached a peak of number two. It spent five weeks in the Top Ten and a total of fourteen weeks on the UK chart.
The song also charted in Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.